


360 Degrees

by atlantisVernacular



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Dissociation, Humanstuck, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, beach town au, consistent alcohol abuse throughout
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-05-26 17:49:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisVernacular/pseuds/atlantisVernacular
Summary: Kurloz moves halfway across the country after his and Meulin's breakup left him in ruins. Who thought some idiot could just waltz in one day and change his life forever?Repost/rewrite/finished version of the original 360 Degrees on FF





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So this story is super old and from FF.net and I never posted the whole thing first time round. Well I kind of finished it forever ago and figured it should be put up somewhere in its entirety.
> 
> If you read the original: holy shit hello! Welcome back to hell! I can’t beleive you’re still here!
> 
> If you’ve never read this before in your life: I’m so sorry. This fic is a fucking trainwreck and I loved writing every bit of it. Enjoy.

Your name is Kurloz Makara and you have no idea how your crazy asshole of a best friend convinced you to move in with him.

Mituna Captor had been your best friend since way back in middle school. You two had been stuck in the same ‘special’ lunch club together, which mostly involved giving your councillor mandatory updates on how you were getting on with ‘regular’ students and teaching each other swear words in sign language. When he moved away a couple of years later you never lost contact. Sure, you didn't spend as much time together as you used to, but one of you would always make the effort to come round and visit in the school holidays. Except, that wasn't a problem anymore. You were now twenty, had no ties whatsoever and ready to live your life as a real, functioning adult.

But honestly, you had no idea how to do that.

So here you were, unpacking numerous items of clothing, most of which are black, into the cabinet of Mituna's spare room. You're actually quite surprised that he's doing better than you- back when you were young you had always assumed that you would be the one with the apartment, and the girlfriend, and the steady job, but no. You had no means to care for him. You had to come here for his help, instead.

Not that you're bitter about it. Okay, so you're a little bitter about it. Your girlfriend, well, now ex-girlfriend, had left you not two weeks ago. This was the prompt for you to get you act together in the first place- who needed romance anyway? Nobody successful ever married their high school sweetheart.

You're coming up with excuses again. You’re pretty sure you should start embracing the truth of your feelings, but that tends to put you in a bad mood. You totally would have married her, and been damn happy about it. Meulin was perfect in literally ever way, for you at least. The first week after the break up was spent sulking in your bedroom about how you were never going to find anyone ever again who could tolerate you- like, actually enjoy your company tolerate you- and listening to loud, angry rap music to try and clear your head. This was when your asshole little brother stepped in and told you to, and I quote, 'get a life, already.'

Who knew such simple, cliché words could have such an impact?  
For about twenty seconds you found yourself inspired to burn the photo album you'd put together of your life back home- you and Meulin had made it together just before graduation, which had been a nice thing to share with your friend group. Gamzee wouldn't let you, however, and decided he'd give it to Meulin when she came over to collect her things.

It had killed you inside, compiling that little box of stuff shed left in your house. A couple shirts, the Arctic Monkeys CD she lent you and you didn't like, three tubes of dark coloured lipstick you’d deny having tried on, and more hairpins than you could count. There was a lot more stuff in there, you're sure, because it took you three whole days of slugging around your room to get all her stuff together, but you can't remember half of it right now. There was a dildo in there somewhere, but that wasn't really worth noting.

And you're kind of glad Gamzee didn't let you burn your memories, because now Meulin could have them, and you don't think that memories burn up her head and fill her lungs with acid like they do to you. You’re glad she has it. She was always a lot more sentimental than you and could probably look back on those photos with fondness instead of the gut-churning sense of loss you felt. You hope she's happier, now she's not with you.

Mituna's girlfriend is great. Or should you say, 'radical'. She lives on the other side of town and goes to the same college as Mituna does, and when you met her for the first time she talked at you for a good seven minutes before realising you were mute. It was funny to you, at least, but she was mortified. You like Latula.

It's just hard to believe that Mituna, who you had thought you'd be looking after way ito his late forties, had his life so sorted. And then there's you, who cried hysterically on the drive over here because you didn't want to leave your brother alone in that house with that shitlord you call a father. Gamzee wouldn't let you stay, though, spewing inspirational bullshit about 'finding your own path', and 'becoming who you're supposed to be'. You swear that kids high off his ass half the time anyway. You still feel guilty for leaving him.

Mituna signs something at you after getting your attention- usually to do that he waves all big and crazy with his arms, which is weird because he always pretends like your deaf even though he knows better. It's kind of cute, actually, but you're pretty sure he could be less obnoxious about it.

See, Mituna happens to suffer from Asperger's syndrome, which basically cuts him out of the loop in most social situations. You'd feel bad for him, but he seems to be doing well in life so far, so you can't bring yourself to feel too bad about your best friends disability. His Asperger's compromises his existence about as much as being selectively mute compromises yours. That is to say, a fair bit, but your friends are cool about it.

Oh yeah, your friends. Those were some faces you were never going to see again. You always had a weird issue with friendship to begin with, and now that you had moved halfway across the damn country, you weren't in the best way to keep contact. It's not like you were popular anyway, but you still felt a little guilty for taking off like that, especially without saying goodbye. Gamzee would do that for you, you suppose.

What was Mituna signing? You kind of zoned out there for a second and he looks frustrated. Better get your wicked listen on.

::What?:: You sign at him apologetically. He perks up when he knows you're paying attention.

::Latula's having a party tonight, so obviously I'm going:: he leaves then, and you're a little put out.  
First night of living with your best friend and he's going out to a party. Nice. When Gamzee had told you to 'get out there and let loose', you don't think this is the lifestyle he imagined. Maybe if you were going to the party- no that would be stupid. You hate parties. People just give you funny looks and you spend the whole time getting drunk in the corner and Meulin can't even hear the music so what's the point-

Fuck. No. Forget Meulin. That's not what you should be worrying about. Instead you follow Mituna into the kitchenette, where he's busy intently watching the toaster. It pops and he squeals, jumping back before leaning in to inspect the toast, finding an appropriate angle at which to remove it from the toaster without getting burnt.  
You watch this for a while in good humour- you always enjoyed Mituna's strange approach to everyday things. You tap him on the shoulder and he turns to face you, surprised that you had witnessed that small battle with the toaster. You raise both hands to your shoulders and shrug.

He looks confused for a second, and then starts laughing. He apparently decides to register that you can hear this time because he talks to you while buttering his toast "Oh thit, thorry Kurloth. You're invited, too. Fuck, I can't believe I forgetted that bit." He takes one bite of the toast and looks excited "You can meet all our friendth! Actually, thome of them aren't my friendth, jutht athholeth, but it'th thtill cool, I gueth."

::What are your friends like?:: You ask, curious.

He seems to think for a second, scratching at his bright blonde mane of hair. It's not as big as yours, of course, but is a lot less cared for. Your dreadlocks are fucking huge and immaculate and you pride yourself on just how great they look. But enough about your hair, more about the people you might be meeting tonight.

"Well, you know Latula. She's totes rad." He snickers and shoves a bunch of toast in his mouth, deciding to speak with his hands instead.

::Rufioh and Horuss will be there. They're cool. Also gay together and kind of creepy, but cool. You won't like Rufioh, he's not your type of human:: he shakes his head sadly, as if this is some kind of huge deal ::Porrim will come, and she's super nice and will probably talk to you for a long time. Also single:: he winks ::Meenah and Aranea are in lesbians with eachother and super crazy, Damara is kind of hot but don't hit on her because she will beat you up:: he falters here, trying to remember if there's anyone he's forgetting ::oh, and Porrim will bring Kankri. He'll love you because you're supposedly 'less able' and that's a good talking point::

You consider yourself blessed with the knowledge of how eloquent and smart Mituna is when he talks with his hands. Most people assume he's dumb because of his disorder and lisp, but you know for a fact that he's a lot smarter than anyone gives him credit for.

He finishes the last of his toast and throws his plate in the sink, narrowly avoiding breaking the china. You figure it's a good thing that you're going to be living with him from now on- probably a lot less accidents around the house "And if anyone inviteth Cronuth I'm thpit on him. Fucking, fucking pith on hith foot. Fucking- wha… Fuck. Fuck."

Mituna's hands flew into his hair, pulling at it with more force than necessary. You pull his hands away in an attempt to stop him hurting himself, and instead he latches his iron grip onto your wrists.

"Thorry. My wordth got weird again." When he looks at you there's shame in his eyes and you decide that this is a good time to hug him. Mituna doesn't like physical contact, and has very few exceptions. Namely: you, Lautula, and his brother Sollux who you've met a few times and decided that while he obviously cares a great deal for Mituna, he isn't very good at looking after him.

By the time you leave you're kind of looking forward to the party. You helped Mituna pick out some clothes after twenty minutes of arguing that he looks fine and can totally just go in the Pikachu onesie he's been wearing all day. He insists that he wants to look nice for Latula and so you dig through his wardrobe, throwing some jeans and a stripy yellow sweater in his direction, along with some bumblebee themed boxers just because they made you laugh. He doesn't question this, taking off his onesie so fast you forget to avert your eyes, and outwardly cringe at the sight of a cackling, butt-naked Mituna.

You're out of the room in seconds, smiling at the jumbled taunts and curses from the other room. Five minutes later Mituna barges in on you getting changed, and insists that he gets to pick out your clothes, because you chose for him and it wasn't fair.

So sitting in the driver's seat of the car you swear you only just got out of, you head off, Mituna giving you directions to Latula's place the entire way. What did he dress you in, you wonder? Well, he'd already decided for you that you needed to get laid so you were going to hit on Porrim tonight, and so dressed you 'appropriately' (he wouldn't let you wear the skeleton suit. You love the skeleton suit). This consisted of the tightest black jeans you own, and a patterned green t-shirt he'd pulled from his own closet. It was far too small for you and was way too tight even up against your lanky frame, so your hipbones were just about on show. This was finished off with that leather jacket you often forget you still have, and Mituna loudly declares that you look 'sexy'.

You completely disagree. You'd rather be wearing the skin-tight leather skeleton costume you're so fond of, but Mituna insists that he's not taking someone in a gimp suit to his girlfriend's party so that's that. You're there in under ten minutes- she may live all the way across town, but it's a pretty small town. You'd officially upgraded from shithole middle-of-nowhere Ohio to shithole California junkie beach town. You're a little anxious about this party.

People don't tend to like you. You're weird. You wanted to wear a skeleton suit out in public. A real leather god damn skeleton suit. You mentally slap yourself- why is Mituna the one normalising you?

"Hey Tuna- Oh shit! It's Kurloz! My main man, what's goin' on?"

Latula opens the door to her house- it's big, so you assume she still lives with her parents- and greets you with more enthusiasm than you could probably force out in your entire life. You give her a double thumbs up and she takes this as an invitation to hug you, which you don't particularly mind. Mituna pulls her straight off of you and demands some attention in the form of a kiss, which leaves you standing there awkwardly until they're finished.

"We're going to thet him up with Porrim." Mituna whispers and then giggles as you slap a hand across your forehead. You don't actually want to be set up with anyone- you kind of just got out of a three year relationship.

Latula giggles with him and you just kind of smile at them. Luckily, you remembered that little notebook you brought with you while travelling, and proceed to scribble out a message in pencil. It reads: It's his idea. I'm not looking for partners at the moment. She looks over it and raises an eyebrow, but then just slaps your arm and drags you further inside.

"Oh come on, that doesn't mean you can't talk to a pretty girl, does it?" she questions and you shrug, allowing yourself to succumb to the loud music and chatty partygoers.  
You briefly wonder what you've gotten yourself into.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And lets switch to Cros POV! This is wild. I hope you like self indulgent overdescribed feelings and abstract misery.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos guys! Love u! I’m really feeling this writing kick and I wanna start writing something else once this is all posted so tell me how I can improve!

Your name is Cronus Ampora and you can’t believe you've been invited to this party.

Latula hates you, you're pretty sure. Or at least Mituna hates you, and that's enough of a reason for Latula to not invite you. Maybe she's getting sick of Mituna or something. Wouldn't be too hard, I mean, the guy’s a fucking idiot. Maybe she's finally come around and is showing a little interest in you. You assure yourself that this is a highly likely scenario and that you should definitely try hitting on her tonight if the opportunity arises.

Three metres away from her front door and you decide otherwise. The last three months have been what one would call emotionally crippling. The main suspect of your inner turmoil being a tragically failed suicide attempt that you're trying your absolute hardest not to think about right now, and you don't think you could handle a rejection tonight on top of it. Well, you could, but you've always kind of had a crush on Latula and getting thrown out of her party might just kill you.

As in, literally kill you. This party seemed like a good distraction when it was first suggested, but now you’re not so sure. Maybe you shouldn't drink tonight. Maybe you should keep to yourself, or just talk to Kankri, or maybe you should just turn away from this door right now and go home.

It's a pretty big house, not as big as yours, of course, but big. You hesitate to knock, but see a couple of people walking down the driveway behind you and there's no way you're going to let anyone see you standing here like an idiot. You spend an additional second considering whether you should just turn around and run away but your damn impulses act up, hands betraying you and you knock instead.

The door opens and the broad smile that Latula always wears twitches. It feels like theres a rock in your gut. Yeah, you really shouldn't have shown your face here.

"Oh, hey, Cronus. Decided to come after all, huh?" she says sympathetically. Why is she looking at you like that? Oh.

She knows.

You know she talks to Kankri, because you also know that Kankri has a weird crush on her that he vehemently denies no matter how much pressure you put on him to tell you. He must have told her in some desperate attempt to be momentarily interesting. He was always like that, and you curse yourself for confiding that kind of secret in him. Well, at least that would explain why she invited you.

You feel like you should go yell at Kankri, or break down crying, or just fuck over social convention, turn around and walk straight out into the road. When you told Kankri about your, uh, attempt, you shared that secret in confidence. He’s your only friend. How the fuck dare he-

You've been silent for at least seven seconds, and Latula is just looking at you. She looks like she's torn between asking whats wrong and knowing just how awfully engaging you emotionally could turn out "Cronus?”

"Yeah. Yeah, I came tonight. Hope you don't mind." You try to smile at her, one of your usual cocky grins, but your teeth feel unnaturally big in your mouth. You're pretty sure it just came out desperate and ugly.

Her smile turns soft and the last thing you want to do is have her pity you right now "Hey, I invited you, didn't I? Come in, bro. Kankri's already here.”

Of course she’s immediately going to hand you off to Kankri. Who else would talk to you? It’s not like she’s going to hang around you for longer than it takes to walk through the door, even if she is the host. You don't even want to look at Kankri. You don't want to, but you know you will, because he's the only person at this party that you know can stand you. Most of the people within the group you socialise with kind of hate your guts. The inside of Latulas house is nice, the kind of house that normal families live in to go about their normal lives. You wouldn't be caught dead living in a place like this.

You're surprised that she sticks by your side, walking you all the way to the drinks table, it’s an unusual change of pace and she offers you a beer and who are you to say no? Looks like you're drinking tonight after all. It's loud and hot, and you don't recognise half the people. Latula tries to make some awkward conversation with you, to which you give the best neutral replies you possibly can. After that nasty sympathetic smile at the door you don’t think you have any kind of attraction to her anymore, and you think she’s picked up on that in the way that you definitely aren’t flirting right now. It’s actually kind of nice, just making small talk like this. You wonder if this is how people make friends.

It lasts for a good minute or so until she’s finished pouring herself a couple of nasty Mountain Dew infused cocktails and says something about finding Mituna. It’s too soon. You were just starting to feel like she was getting comfortable with you. She turns to go but then you snap with an impulse, calling her name too loud and harsh and she stops, looking at you nervously with a very ‘don’t ruin this now’ kind of look.

“Thanks.” you say lamely. You don’t ruin it. She gives you what you think is a genuine smile.

And then she just kind of points you in the direction of Kankri, who can be seen lecturing Porrim and a dark skinned man in a leather jacket that you've never seen before. God, you don’t want to talk to Kankri, but there aren’t many options here.

You turn back to the drinks table where you pour a considerable amount of vodka into your beer. It tastes like absolute shit, but you plan on drinking it anyway. You don't want to be sober for this.

Kankri greets you with the same surprised, awkward air as Latula had, except slightly less so since he'd known you for longer. He must have known you'd jump at any opportunity to be around people- basically any place you might get laid. Or at least have a face to face conversation. God it’s sad what these people think of you, but they aren’t necessarily wrong either.

"Oh, Cronus, how nice of you to make an appearance. Latula did invite you, I assume? Not just showing up rogue this time?" He pauses, smiling to himself as if he'd just made a joke. You weren’t amused. The last time you ‘showed up rogue’ Meenah ended up pushing you out of a window. Now that was a fucking story and a half "I've just been telling Porrim and her new friend here about the benefits of vegan leather over the much less savoury cow skin that some people insist on wearing, though, considering your wardrobe, I doubt this would be a conversation that would hold much interest to you. Anyway, how was the journey over here? Did you get your car fixed up?"

You take a moment to digest all that speech and stop thinking about that terrifying three story drop and try to keep yourself from zoning out completely "Yeah, I went down to Zahhaks garage and fixed my baby. You know, for a guy that doesn't like me, he sure gives me a lot of discounts."

"Fascinating. Now, I was just about to hear Porrims take on the leather issue before you showed up, so now I'd like to take the time to hear her talk, thank you." He looks to Porrim expectantly, who grimaces.

"Kankri, you know I'm a vegetarian. Of course I don't like leather." She says, bored and clearly more interested in looking at the silent stranger who has so far spent this time staring confusedly at Kankri. You don't blame him. Or her, for that matter. You could definitely spend some time looking at this guy. It’s obvious that they want some time alone.

You take pity on her and convince Kankri to come sit outside with you so you can smoke. Porrim seems to pick up on what you’re doing and gives you a surprised little nod as you lead him away, chattering all the while. He absolutely detests your smoking and glares at you for the duration of the walk outside, but calms down when he notices how nice the back garden is. There are a lot of fruit trees, one of which has a wonky looking tree house sat uneasily on its branches. He talks to you while you ignore him and focus on your cigarette. This is how most of your hangout sessions with him go, but tonight you're being extra quiet because he told Latula. You actually can't believe he would do a thing like that.

Well, you can kind of believe it. For all Kankri talks about 'triggers' and all that social justice love-thy-neighbour kind of stuff, he's really pretty inconsiderate. But this is not what you are focusing on. Right now you're thinking about how beer and vodka should never be mixed (literally never. It's disgusting) and how you actually don't feel like hitting on anyone tonight. The more time you spend here the less you want to. You know that none of these people like you, and there's no chance in hell anyone you know is even remotely interested in dating you, so why are you even here? Nobody actually wants you around. You decide not to tell Kankri this, because he's incredibly obtuse and will spit it back in your face.

"Cronus, it's rather cold out here, don't you think? Let's go back inside." He insists, standing up and wrapping his arms around themselves. You look at him, briefly thinking that he looked kind of cute all huddled up like that.

"Nah, you go ahead." You wave him off. This is one of those rare times where you actually feel better without Kankri around. The garden is peaceful if you ignore the thumping bass and tinny electro music.

You're there for another few minutes in which you smoke another cigarette. As you get up to leave, however, the back door slams open and lanky figure quickly shuts it again, pressing his back to the wall and sliding down it. His head is rested against his knees, and you immediately feel your interest spark. Another soul out here avoiding the party. 

So instead of going back inside and listening to Kankri talk some more, you sit back on your bench and watch a stranger shiver on the floor. He looks up and spots you staring, and you both promptly look away. Apparently he changes his mind and gets up, and in a few quick strides he's in front of you.  
It's the same hot guy in the jacket that you had seen talking to Porrim not twenty minutes ago. Those ridiculous dreadlocks he has his hair knotted into create a bizarre silhouette in the moonlight. He points to the packet of cigarettes sticking out of your pocket and you oblige with a short 'sure'. He lights up and sits down next to you, looking tense and weird. It’s silent for a good minute and you can’t stand it.

Looks like you're going to have to start the conversation, this time, because this is way too awkward "So, you know Porrim, huh?" you ask as casually as possible, which is pretty casual. You're actually quite good at talking to strangers.

He gives you a long sideways glance and says nothing, just sits there smoking your cigarette. Um, rude. You try again.

"You thinking about trying it on with her? She's pretty hot. You are too, though, so you're at least in with a chance. I mean, I can't count how many times she's turned me down. Still a cool gal, though, I guess."

He still doesn't reply, just kind of shrugs and gestures something with his hands. The idea hits you that he might be deaf or something. He pulls out a notebook from his back pocket and scribbles something down, handing it to you. It reads: 'she's not my type', in clear, cursive writing. You scoff.

"Its Porrim, she's everyone's type." He shakes his head and takes the notebook back, writing you another message.

'That doesn't mean I want to sleep with her'. You personally can't believe that someone, even this strange guy sitting next to you, doesn't want to sleep with Porrim. It just doesn't compute.

"Well," you start again, kind of surprised someone's tolerated your company for so long "Is there anyone here you're interested in? I could always talk to them for you, or something, since you don't seem to be too good at that."

You mentally slap yourself. That was probably completely inappropriate to say to someone who was… mute? Yeah, mute. That was the no talking one, right? Either way you have officially discovered that you repel people just as easily when you're not flirting with them as when you are.

But to your surprise he just gives you a strange smile and shakes his head. He gets this determined look on his face and goes back to his notebook. This time after he scribbles his message he rips out the paper and gives it to you. Before you even have time to look at it he's gone, striding away into the light and warmth of the party. You stare after him as he leaves, way too focused on those tight jeans. You wish you could look that good in jeans that tight.

You look down at the paper where to your shock, a number is written down with a side note of 'I could probably use a person to talk for me. Or to me. Or whatever. I made this weird, didn't I?'

No, he didn't make it weird at all. This marks the first ever time you've ever gotten a phone number at a party, even if it was just an offer of friendship. You have been offered friendship.

With a new spring in your step and a cocky grin you didn't think you could pull off tonight, you follow him inside for another drink. Preferably one that didn't taste like literal shit, this time.

You feel hopeful.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys, still me, still milling about here on the archives... slightly shorter chapter this time round but its gearing up for the longass next one i swear ! hahA wrITING
> 
> @popwhatmagniude thankyou so much !!
> 
> @Vivizz aaaa thankyou welcome back !!! hope its better this time round :’)

Your name is Kurloz Makara and you're still thinking about that idiot from the party.

In all honesty you weren't expecting to make anything close to a friend that night, seeing as you got stuck between an (admittedly hot) girl you weren't particularly interested in and the most obnoxious person you've ever met in your entire god damn life for most of the night. Mituna pretty much abandoned you, but you don't mind. He stayed over in the end, insisting that a drunk Latula was a fun Latula and that he was going to 'get it on' that night. You don't want to think about Mituna in that situation or any close to it. But, good for him, you guess.

So after your brief encounter with a friendly stranger (who you gave your number. That was so weird what the hell) you decided to go in and drink more. He actually wasn’t put off at all and followed you, much to your shock, and challenged you to a little drinking game.

Every couple you see making out, that's a shot. Every time someone falls on the dance floor, that's a shot. Every time someone declares that 'this is their song', you guessed it, that's a shot, and so on. A couple of guys joined in later, some guy with a bright red mohawk and his sweaty boyfriend, but they were already super drunk and mohawk guy had to go to the bathroom and puke before anything got interesting.

The end result was your new friend passing out from extreme levels of alcohol consumption. Luckily, you could hold your drink and officially won the game. Obnoxious lecturing guy came over and made a fuss, using your friends phone to call someone (you think his brother) to come pick him up at about three in the morning. You helped wake him up and walk him to the car where a tired and pissed off kid sat in the front seat.

He said he would call you. At least, you think he did, he was kind of slurring and drunk off his ass, but the sentiment was nice. You just nodded along and did up his seatbelt, bidding him a wave goodbye as they drove off into the night. You lost interest in the party after that, telling Mituna you were going home before you were sick on yourself.

You have no idea how you managed to drive home and not become a thousand tiny splats of blood and viscera scattered around a car wreck, but even still, you woke up in your own bed with a crippling hangover and no motivation to move.

So you're just lying here, thinking about that guy and whether he's going to call you.

Well, text, preferably. You can't see a phone call working very well in your favour. You sort of question your interest in this possible friendship and whether he was funny or you were just drunk. Does it matter? Well, actually, yeah, it does. You like funny people. Like Mituna. Mituna's funny.

Friendly stranger was funny too, in his own crazy, self-depreciating sort of way. He made a lot of cracks at his own apparent lack of friends and how he was probably invited out of pity. Pity for what, you don't know. All you know is that you sort of feel bad for this guy whose name is still a mystery to you.

It's four in the afternoon and you still don't feel like getting up. You've had your hand down your pants for the last half hour, but the boredom-induced wank session doesn't seem to be going anywhere. You don't think you really like drinking all that much. It just makes you feel like shit the next day.

At five you decide you're hungry and could probably do with drinking some water. Your mouth is dry as all hell. The meal you consume consists of toast with peanut butter, a Mars bar you found in the cupboard and six cups of coffee, which you regret drinking a little while later when the jitters set in and you're shaking while watching repeat episodes of children's cartoons, which you're especially fond of. You love animation. Cartoons are cool.

Around seven Mituna comes home looking at least two hundred percent better than you feel. He's got this big grin on his face and won't shut up about how great the party was last night.

"And gueth who got laid." he says while cooking up some instant ramen noodles. Two hands click into little pistols, and he pretends to shoot them at you "Thith guy. Me. Right here."

Again, you don't like thinking about Mituna anywhere below the belt. You laugh and congratulate him anyway, even if it was just for having sex with his girlfriend, which you are sure isn't that great of an accomplishment. He asks you how it went with Porrim and you sigh.

::I wasn't up for it. She's nice, but not my type:: you inform him. He's not impressed by this.

"It'th Porrim. Sheth everyones type." he snorts and refocuses on his noodles.

You can't help but laugh a little, having heard exactly the same thing from your friend last night. It's a shame you weren't so instantly attracted to her like everyone else seems to be. You reckon if you hadn't just gotten out of a three year relationship it would be different, but still, here you are. The two of you watch old tacky Pokemon movies for a while, Mituna's running commentary being mainly on how Gen 1 was overrated, to which you disagree. Gen 1 was cool. Pokemon are cool. At eight your phone vibrates and you practically jump off the couch to get to it, grinning manically as you read over the message.Yoooooo, it's Cronus. Guy from the party. Vwhat up. Never got your name so ?

Cronus. Okay. Cronus as in the greek god who ate all his children and was later murdered by the one who survived. That’s an easy name to remember. You like him already. A brief thought runs through your head that maybe you should wait an hour or so before replying, make this guy think you have a life. But then, you really don't have a life at all outside of Mituna and this apartment. Why bother lying when you could text your new friend instead?

You: It's Kurloz. What goes on, my brother?

That sounded cool and casual, right? You quickly save the number as 'Cronus' before the reply comes.

Cronus: Literally nothing. Bitch of a hangovwer but vwhat else is newv lmao

You: Haha same I only got up an hour ago

That was kind of a lie, but not completely untrue. An exaggeration, at the most.

Cronus: Siiiiiiiik I vwas vway drunker than u last night tho

You: true lmao you passed out on me and everything

Why are you so awkward. Jesus fucking Christ that was a weird thing to say. This is why you have no friends.

Cronus: yeah haha.

Oh god he's realised you're a freak. Abort mission, terminate friendship, ect. This was a stupid idea anyway.  
"Who are you texting?" Mituna asks from the other end of the couch.

::Nobody:: you sign. He gives you a funny look but ignores it, going back to watching whatever crappy animated movie he'd put on now. This is when your phone vibrates again. You hesitate to look at it, but to your surprise it’s not a world-ending hard-hitting comment on how socially incompetent you are.

Cronus: soooo I vwas vwondering if you vwanted to hang out or vwhatevwer ?

You doubt the authenticity of the message and turn off your phone. When you turn it on again the message is still there. The only doubt you have now is whether his VW typing quirk is cute or stupid.

You: yeah, sure. where you wanna go?

Cronus: vwell most people around here hang out at the beach

You kind of forgot that this was a beach town. It's not like you're particularly interested in sand or the sea or whatever. You hate sand. You didn't actually want to move here in the first place.

You: cool. we won't be swimming, right?

Cronus: no vway it's fuckin cold out. id try but i don’t feel like gettin hypothermia.

That was a stupid question and you know it. It's September you dimwit. However at the time of asking you were more concerned about how weird your body looked in a bathing suit (which is pretty weird. You have a bad case of protruding ribs).

You: right, of course

The two of you decided on a time to meet and he abruptly stopped texting. You're sure you put him off somehow. Put him off of what, you don't know, but there was some serious doubt going on in your head that this friendship was going to work out. Why were you even getting so worked up about this? It's just some guy you're going to hang out with. It's not a big deal or anything.

An idea passes through your head that this could be considered a date. All that would be needed in addition to your plans would be a little romantic intention and boom: it's a date. You shudder and throw that idea away immediately. This wasn't going to get weird, it's just that you've never treated friendship so formally before.

You bid Mituna goodnight and head off to your bedroom, finding yourself remarkably tired after a short day of doing absolutely nothing. How sad. What a stupid waste of a day. You didn't even finish masturbating earlier.

Before you even start thinking about that you get rid of the idea. You know if you do it now you're going to think about Meulin, and that's not something you feel like dealing with. So you take a nap instead.

The nap turns from a twenty minute lie down into a six hour sleeping marathon. You never get that much sleep. What's with all the sleeping lately? You've spent far too much time in this bed for somebody who moved in two days ago. Maybe you're depressed.

That could easily be the answer, you think as you gaze upon the closed curtains of the small bedroom. Break up with the most wonderful human being you've ever met, move to a shithole beach town just as it starts to get cold and make yourself look awkward in front of strangers at a party. Maybe you should just stay inside forever and succumb to the depression.

No, don't be silly, you have a date with Cronus this afternoon.

And actually this friend-date is the best thing going on in your life right now. Just one day at a time.

You decide to get dressed in something that wasn't underwear and a baggy sweater. By underwear you mean the breifs you've been wearing for the last two days because it never crossed your mind that maybe you stink. You change your mind half way through dressing yourself and take a shower.

Mituna's shower is filthy and has way too many empty bottles of shampoo. Not that you would use it anyway- you ignore the sudden impulse to rub shampoo into your dreadlocks. That's the worst idea you've had all day. You get out and dress yourself in...

Skeleton suit? Is that acceptable attire to go meet somebody? Maybe not, considering you just met the guy. If even Mituna hates your clothes, you've got to look pretty weird. You dig out your ripped jeans and that shirt you like with the ribcage printed on it. Nice. Casual. Add your boots and black snakeskin jacket (which is the coolest item of clothing you have ever owned), and you look pretty badass.

It's now that you decide to check the time, and see that you have four hours before you even have to think about leaving the house. But you look so good. This is stupid- you wish you slept for longer.

Instead you kick back in front of the TV, turning it on and ignoring Mituna's snoring from the next room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and hERES where we get cUTE

"Cronus Ampora, where in the fuck do you think you're going?"

Your name has already been stated and you think you just pissed your pants a little.

You didn’t think anyone would be in on a Monday afternoon- Eridan was at school and your dad is usually working- but there he was, in the doorway, all 6’4” of him dressed in a flattering navy blue business suit, smelling like old fish and expensive aftershave that barely covered it up. Seriously, you could smell him from here. You were just about to head out to meet Kurloz, seeing as it was nearly four and you had agreed to meet him at the beach at that time.

“Out?” you tried. He rolled his eyes.

“Come on, boy. I want a word.” he hung up his suit jacket by the door and stepped swiftly down the hall, gesturing for you to follow. You’re going to be late.

You end up in the kitchen, sat at the counter while he makes a pot of coffee and offers you some. You accept and sneakily pour a little of the vodka you were packing around for your outing with Kurloz into the freshly brewed black liquid. But you don’t get away unnoticed. Your father tuts at this and makes a grabby gesture and you hand over the bottle. Great, now you’re out one perfectly good bottle of vodka. 

To your surprise he pours a good measure into his own coffee and sits down with you “Just like your old man, huh? Anytime past midday.” he smirks at your shocked face and tips the scalding hot liquid down his throat in one go. He gives a hum of approval and pours a little more into the empty cup before handing you back the bottle.

You place it back in your bag and try a little of your own drink. It’s not nice. You don’t know how he downed it like that.

“So whats going on, pa?” you ask, peeking to check the time on his ornate gold watch. It’s very nearly four. Damn.

He slams back his second measure of vodka neat, and very nearly breaks the fine china when he sets it back down. Your dad is a weird guy. He startles you sometimes.

“I’m selling the factory.”

You pause for a second to let that sink in. The factory- the huge ass multimillion dollar fish gutting factory that your father set up decades ago- was a big part of your family. You think at one point you were supposed to inherit it.

“For how much?” you ask. He chuckles.

“Eye on the prize, huh? Thirty mil.” he grins.

Thirty million dollars? Holy shit. You were well off before but that is a whole lot of money. You’re going to be a millionaire “Dad, thats fucking crazy. That’s so much fucking money.”

“Gotta leave you some inheritance, don’t I? And who would want to spend their days running the states biggest fish factory? Not me, thats for sure. It’s about fuckin’ time I got to retire.” he paused to contemplate for a second “Don’t tell anyone, though. Not until the deal goes through.”

You blink. Retire? He wasn’t even fifty “Course not. Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Good lad.” he got up and rifled through what was unofficially dubbed ‘the booze cupboard’, acquiring himself a bottle of expensive whiskey “Now get out of here. Go do something fun. I’m gonna sit around and plan my early retirement ‘til Eridan gets home from school. Little sociopath is going to lose his mind over all our money. I think I’m gonna buy him a boat.”

And thats how you leave your father- sat at the kitchen counter grinning to himself. This was a lot of information to take in. You probably wouldn’t ever have to work a day in your life if you didn’t want to, and you were a little confused as to why that made you sad. Your thoughts are going too fast. You need a good distraction.

Walking down the coastline was starting to feel hopeless, but eventually you spotted him sitting on a pile of rocks by the sea front. It was impossible not to notice him- he was a stark, imposing line of black against the empty grey beach and the thick blanket of clouds above. You think of freshly brewed coffee and the off-white china you have at home. You notice for the first time that actually, he’s very striking.

In one hand he carried a half-drunk bottle of faygo, in the other a recently stubbed out cigarette. He's so busy staring out into the ocean that he doesn't notice you until you sit down next to him. He jumps a little at your arrival, big dark eyes wary and accusing. He doesn't need to write anything down for you to know that he's pissed.

"Yeah, I know, sorry I'm late." you pull out your own pack of cigarettes and light one up. He immediately takes one without asking "Wow, rude."

He rolls his eyes and you both smoke in silence for a while. It's kind of awkward, but you don't really mind. It's just nice to be quiet- to be around someone that isn't Kankri for once.

Kurloz pulls out his little notebook and scribbles you a message. 'What are we doing today? Conversation isn't exactly my strong suit.'

You're not sure if it's appropriate to laugh at his disability, even if he's making fun of himself, but you do anyway "I'm cool doing whatever. Got some of this, though."

You pull the bottle of vodka from your bag, presenting it to him with a grin. He cracks a smile and shakes his head, snatching it from your hands and unscrewing the lid. Woah, he's more enthusiastic than you thought he would be. At the party you hadn't gotten the impression that he likes drinking, but then again this was kind of awkward and alcohol could always fix that.

He pours a considerable amount into his bottle of faygo, and while he does this you study his face. He's wearing eyeliner. Huh. You always thought eyeliner looked weird on guys, but it kind of works for him.  
He hands you back the bottle and you drink it straight, determined not to cringe at the taste as to appear less of a dork than you really are. You can't help the wince, and you know he notices because he does this cute little silent laugh thing and now you feel dumb.

"You laughin' at me?" you accuse, a little too offended for such a minor thing. He nods and drinks some from his bottle. It hardly affects him and you're mildly jealous of his superior withstanding towards alcohol consumption. God, you're such a dork. Why is this guy hanging out with you again? You lift yourself from the rocky ground and stand to face him "C'mon, let's walk down to the pier. Probably some girls hanging around there."

He tilts his head to the side and raises one eyebrow. You instantly become defensive "Yeah, I know you're not into dating or whatever, but I am. And you'd make a great wingman. Nice and quiet. Won't fuck up my chances."

Kurloz silently laughs again and writes something else down for you. It simply says 'What chances?'

Wow. Right in the sore spot "Fuck you. Why are you wearing eyeliner?" is that the best reply you can come up with? Oh god what is wrong with you.

'Makes me look sexy.' he writes, smirking up at you from the sand. Well he’s not exactly wrong.

"Why do you need to be sexy? Tryin' to lure me in, huh?" you accuse, unable to keep the grin from your face. He starts laughing again and lifts himself from the ground with surprising grace "C'mon, I'll indulge your nasty-ass crush on me. Romantic walk on the beach sound nice?"

He shoves you about a foot closer to the ocean, the smile on his face drastically contrasting with his scrunched up eyebrows. He looks like he's trying to act annoyed but fails. This is nice. It's not often you can make jokes like that without getting slapped or whatever. It's just one of the many drawbacks to your friends hating you.

The two of you wander down the beach front, occasionally shoving each other. It's juvenile and dumb, but for some reason you're enjoying it. As much as you've labelled Kurloz as 'friend-only', you're kind of appreciating the excuse to touch his chest. From the brief seconds in which you make contact while pushing each other, you have already assessed that he's bony as fuck but that's kind of hot. That's bad, isn't it? Skeletons aren’t hot. He looks fucking malnourished. You really need to get out of this 'fuck everything that moves' mind-set.

The pier is small and doesn't go out very far. It's more used for docking the smaller boats in the area, since just down the way is the harbour where most people go to hang out. You don't have a lot of friends so you don't go there too often, but you know that cool people like Meenah and Rufioh hang out under the pier. So that's where you're going to sit with Kurloz and your bottle of vodka. You're going to be cool for once.

As soon as you get there Kurloz is looking around the complicated wooden structure, scratching at the back of his neck and looking thoughtful. You steal his faygo-vodka mix and drink the majority of it while he wanders around, seemingly enthralled by the pier and the beams around him.

"What are you looking for?" you ask, amused by his interest. He jogs back over and snatches back his bottle, finishing its contents and then flinging it at you, looking pleased with himself. He then steals your bag and runs off with it "Kurloz, what the fuck?"

Before you realise what he's doing he's already climbing up one of the lower beams, long spidery limbs perfectly able to pull himself up and into the higher parts of the structure. You just watch for a while, dumbfounded, but then he waves you over to join him and you figure, hey, what the hell?

You don't even struggle that much. You aren't all that great at climbing, but actually you're pretty ripped if you do say so yourself, so you're up there in no time. There's a lot of cross hatched beams along the sides that hold the pier up, but there's also quite a few wooden planks stretching across the middle. You're kind of anxious when he tightrope-walks across one of the larger planks, but he seems absolutely fine with it so you decide to at least try. You're kind of drunk right now anyway.

It’s about a quarter of the way across when you realise, Jesus, this is a lot harder than you thought. But he made it look so easy. Was this guy raised in the fucking circus or something?

"Yo, Kurloz, this ain't too cool." you say, a few metres out onto the thin board and wobbling more than you'd like to admit. He looks back at you with a surprised look on his face from where he's perched directly in the middle and cocks his head to the side, giving you an unreadable expression.

Within seconds he's directly in front of you, standing perfectly straight and calm ten metres or so in the air. He offers you a smirk and a hand. That smug fuck.

However you take it without a second thought, uncomfortable with being up so high and needing a little support. His hands are bigger than yours, large and bony and incredibly comforting. The two of you take pigeon steps until you're in the middle where there's just enough room to stand without your head touching the crusty underside of the pier. He even helps you sit down. You can't help the irritated flush on your face. You hate needing help with anything. You have too much pride and it kills you.

"Any particular reason I just risked my life to sit up here?" You ask, a little annoyed. He shrugs and pulls out his notebook again.

'Looked like more fun than sitting down there' he writes. As soon as you read this he takes it back and scrawls something else, a contemplative look on his face 'I like being up high. I used to do trapeze and tightrope in my dad's circus.'Holy shit he was raised in the circus. You knew it. That was the craziest thing you’d heard in a good while "You're a circus freak?" you ask incredulously. He narrows his eyes and you backtrack "No, no, not in a bad way. I mean, how many people can say they perform in the circus? Especially their dad's circus. What's that all about? Family carnival, huh?"

He chuckles silently an writes another message 'Yeah, we're all carnival trash. My brother's a professional clown.'You briefly imagine Kurloz in clown makeup and laugh a little. Man, this guy was super weird. You're kind of interested in this crazy circus junk, though.

You don't get time to reply because suddenly you hear voices. Voices you know.

One of your hands flies up to Kurloz's face and you tell him to shush, but then you realise just how stupid that was. You glance over and he gives you the most dramatic eye roll you've ever seen.

Down on the beach and walking towards the pier are Meenah and Rufioh. The two of them have been best friends for as long as you can remember, mostly because Meenah is about the only person you know who has no interest in sleeping with Rufioh, and that's only because she's the gayest of the gays. Biggest lesbian in the whole world. Rufioh was damn hot.

They sat down in the sand and Meenah pulled out a bottle of whiskey. You deliberate for a moment whether whiskey is technically cooler than vodka, and decide that yes, they have outdone your cool facade by at least 10%. But then again who cares. Well, you do, actually, but that's not the point.  
The point is that Rufioh is laying down some serious emotional shit, and you ad Kurloz are eavesdropping like the creepy fucks you are.

"I just don't love him anymore, you know? He's so clingy I just can't stand it." he complains. No doubt he's bitching about Horuss. Damn horse boy's lucky, though. You don't like to think about what you'd do for the chance to sleep with Rufioh.

"True. Listen, party boy, it's high time you told that sweaty asshole to fuck off. Ain't no other way to put it." Meenah replies, condescending as always. She's right though, you think. Horuss is weird as fuck and he smells kind of bad and you still remember the time he dropped a duffel bag in the hall back in high school and several huge fucking dildos rolled out of it and some girl slipped on one. Even you wouldn’t go there. 

"You know I can't do that. Horuss doesn't listen." he looks sad and withdrawn and you instantly feel a little bad about it.

Meenah snorts "How did you break up with Damara again? You fucked the horse freak. Just go get your jiggy on with some other loser."

Rufioh draws lines in the sand with a lazy hand "Yeah, but whose stupid enough to cheat with me? Horuss would break every bone in their body."

"You know who I'm thinking of." Meenah giggles. You've never heard her giggle. Ever. You assume that this is because she's always annoyed and uncomfortable with you around but either way it doesn't suit her punk exterior. Still cute, though. You've always sort of had a huge crush on her.

Rufioh looks confused for a second and then slaps a hand to his face, making an almost inhuman noise of humiliation "Meenah, no. No, don't even joke about that."

Meenah hops up off the ground and falls into a typically masculine pose, overdoing it and thrusting out her hips and looking smug "Ay, yo, chief, vwanna hop up on this?"

"Fuck off oh my god." Rufioh groaned.

Oh. That's an impression of you. They're making fun of you. Nice. Okay. You haven't even had that stupid VW sounding impediment since high school, but you guess it's the kind of thing people hold onto. Like dropping several horse dildos in public. How does Meenah have more friends than you? She's so rude.

Kurloz just kind of glances at you, mildly interested. You think he knows that it's supposed to be you, because you know you've got the strangest look on your face, but you're happy he doesn't say anything. You know he couldn't anyway, but you're pretty sure he would have the decency to shut up about it if he could.

No, wait, you were wrong. He scribbles a quick 'You wanna hop up on this?' on his notepad and does that stupid laugh thing again. What an asshole.

You rip the notebook from his hands and write back 'You're so funny. Fuck off.'

He seems to have realised that you're genuinely pissed off about this and awkwardly scratches his chin, pointedly ignoring your expression of distaste. Meenah and Rufioh leave after about twenty minutes of similarly offensive banter, and you're surprised that they didn't spot you at any point during their stay.

"They don't like me too much." you tell him after more weird silence. The way you speak is low and sad. It's a brief moment in which you honestly hate everything about who you are. Kurloz simply swings your bag from his back and hands you the vodka bottle from inside.  
You don't even think about it this time when you take a swig, and let your face contort into a look of disgust. He doesn't laugh this time, choosing to write you another message of 'Would you still sleep with him though?'

You generally appreciate the fact that he doesn't question you on your sexuality, since you have no clue what that is yourself. Your taste could be described as 'desperate' "The sad part is, I still totally would. Rufioh's hot."

He shakes his head and writes down 'Kind of an asshole.' to witch you totally agree, but when it comes down to getting laid you're not too fussy about personality.  
The two of you continue this exchange up in the rafters for a while, Kurloz generally questioning you on your social life and you're pretty sure that he's figured out just how lame you are. Just how shitty and lonely your life is. It's not like you hide it very well, or at all from him. It's surprisingly comfortable sitting up here with him, complaining about your endless people issues.

You ask him more about his dad's circus, and learn that it's not as cool as you had originally thought. The whole thing shut down a couple of years ago due to health and safety violations, and that was when they stopped travelling to live in some small town in Ohio. You still think his mad tightrope skills are the bomb, though.

At some point it gets dark and kind of cold, and you descend from the pier (with a lot of help from Kurloz. Getting down from all the way up there was tricky as hell) and quietly wander through the harbour. You point out a few of the coffee shops and clothing stores you like as you walk, and he just nods along and listens to your little tour around the area.

You're a little concerned with just how much you like being around Kurloz. You didn't think that 'mute circus freak' would have been your type of friend, but there it was. Maybe you should put the friend-only label on people more often if it means they bother to withstand your horrible personality for that long.

It approaches nine in the evening and he bids you goodnight with a little wave, and you watch him leave. You surprise yourself with how much you don't want him to go, but it's cold and dark and you're pretty hungry so you hightail it out of there, getting home just in time for dinner.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yep

Your name is Kurloz Makara and you're so comfortable right now it's unbelievable.

It's been three weeks since you met Cronus, and you've barely spent any time apart since. Mituna goes to college in the day, but luckily Cronus has just about as much of a life as you do (meaning none at all) and so you spend most of your free time doing literally nothing and messing around with him. That's a hell of a lot of time.

That day you sat on the pier together still warms your usually cold and awkward heart. You were so surprised when he opened up to you like that within the first couple hours of really hanging around each other, and you're pretty sure he used some kind of magic or something because now he has you trapped.

Trapped in a good way, of course. There's no way anybody could ever catch you in a situation you didn't condone. You basically just don't want to leave his side anymore, as weird as that is, because when you do you feel like he's going to be alone and miserable again. It kind of reminds you of when you first met Mituna, and he needed you around to function in a healthy way.  
Mituna doesn't really need you anymore, though. He'd been fully capable of living alone before you showed up again, and whatever problems he still had he had Latula to help him. You'd felt useless for a long time, but now with Cronus around you feel a lot less so. A lot less alone.

The thought is weird in your mind considering the position you're in. You're so comfortable like this. This was the first time either of you had bothered going to each other's houses since Cronus didn't like other people being in his dad's house and technically you didn't even own the home in which you lived. Right now the two of you were stretched out on the couch. Your legs were all crossed together in a tangle of limbs after much fighting about whose legs got to go on top of who's, so you'd decided on just sitting like invalids with your feet in each other's laps.

You keep sneaking looks at Cronus, who is trying to watch television but is squinting a lot and you wonder whether he needs glasses or something. He's so cute when he doesn't know he's making faces.

That thought is weird, too. You can feel the tiniest hint of a blush at the idea of Cronus being cute, and you're happy about your dark skin because now he's looking at you too.

"Yo, Kurloz, you skateboard?" he asks, pointing at the yellow and white skateboard in the corner.  
It crosses your mind that you've never introduced Cronus to Mituna and how much you think they'd get on with each other. However when you think about them being friends you instantly get jealous. Huh. You shake your head and sign ::My roommate::

You've been trying to teach him sign language for the three short weeks you've been friends. He's progressed quickly in these lessons, a lot faster than you thought he would. Cronus is kind of dumb. You think that he practices at home or something.

He squints at your hands even though you're doing it slowly "I'm gonna guess that means no. You got a roommate or something?"  
Not even close, but at least he got there in the end. You sign even slower than before ::Yeah, I live with my best friend::It takes him a minute but this time he gets it "Your best friend?"  
You nod, and his face becomes very passive. It crosses your mind that he doesn't seem to have any friends other than you. Why does that make you feel so bad? Maybe you should just kiss him already and stop feeling guilty about everything.

Please stop thinking things like that. It's only making the friendship awkward, on your part anyway. You're 95% sure he can't read minds so there's no way he could know just how creepy you've been in your head recently.

The main question you ask yourself in this moment is: Do I want to kiss him? You're not actually into guys. At all. But recently you've been considering Cronus more of a 'person' rather than a 'guy.' It's still a strange thought, though, and as much as you wouldn't mind kissing him the idea of going any further and having to deal with what's under the clothes makes you nervous.

Nervous? Definitely. But uncomfortable? Put off? Disgusted? Not really, you guess. You're not sure when exactly you started thinking about getting Cronus naked, but now you're just trying to figure out whether you would actually find him attractive or not.

"What's he like?" Cronus asks you, and your thoughts fly right out the window, suddenly embarrassed by what you were considering. What were you talking about again?  
Oh yeah, Mituna. Luckily your best friend is a great way to kill any sex-related thoughts. You decide to write it down this time, since Cronus can only understand very little of what you say with your hands. 'He's a funny guy, kind of weird though. Mituna. Latula's boyfriend from the party.'

He reads this and his face darkens "Mituna Captor? You live with Mituna Captor?"

Well that doesn't sound good. You frown and write him 'You know Mituna?'

"Spastic shit-whore only ruined my life." he growled. You shoot him the nastiest glare you possibly could and his eyes widen "Look, okay, he's your friend or whatever, but I can't be here when he gets back. Fucker's gonna go apeshit."

You're kind of confused about this and are about to ask him what the fuck he was talking about when the sound of keys turning in the lock resonated throughout the apartment.

Cronus immediately jumps off the couch and huddles himself under the table, quite well hidden for the efforts of only a second of panic "Honey I'm home!" Mituna calls out, laughing hysterically at his own joke. Usually anything that made Mituna laugh like that, you'd laugh at it too, but right now you're heavily concerned about keeping Cronus' presence a secret. You're not sure why. It couldn't be that bad.

You sit nervously on the couch and Mituna plops down next to you "Kurloth, why doeth it thmell tho bad in here? Thmellth like wet dog and body thpray."

This is a surprisingly accurate description of Cronus' smell and you can't help it. You start laughing. Mituna's getting suspicious now and you're pretty sure you should just give up the gig. It couldn't be that bad, right?

You kick the table and Cronus makes this little squeaking noise. This just makes everything so much funnier in your mind, and you don't stop laughing as the Aquarius rolls out from under the table, bringing himself up to a weird crouch that looked a little like a fighting stance.

And then he and Mituna just stare at each other. Eventually you stop laughing and they're still just standing there, and maybe Mituna's brain just broke or something because this is suddenly very horrible. This is so unbearably awkward that you think you may just die.

"What the fuck are you doing in my houthe, dickhole?" Mituna snaps, breaking the tense silence.

"Hangin' out with Kurloz. What does it look like?" he replied, calmer than expected.

Mituna's body wracked with a brief angry spazm and he turned to Kurloz "Why the fuck are you with him? Why ith he? Why… F-fuck…" he gripped at his messy hair and shook his head back and forth.

"What the shit? Stop doin' that. It's fuckin' retarded." Cronus scalded, looking pissed off and freaked out.  
Your head snaps to him at this, the word 'retard' echoing through your mind. He doesn't even realise how much that stings you. Ableist scumbag. You instantly go to calm Mituna down, taking his hands slowly away from his hair and waiting for him to regroup.

"I'm not- I'm not retarded, athhole." He snarls, picking up the closest projectile to him- which just so happens to be one of your juggling pins.

He throws it towards Cronus with alarming force, and it hits him squarely on the jaw "Ow, fuck-"

"Get out of my houthe!" he screams, darting round the couch in some sort of attempt to chase Cronus away. Cronus takes the initiative to hop over the table, then the couch, and stands in the doorway for a second before flipping the pair of you off and disappearing from sight.

It's quiet for a second ::Mituna, what the fuck?:: you sign, horrified by your friends actions.

He turns to you, upset and angry "Why are you hanging out with that dick? He'th, like, the bad guy. Don't do that."

::I like Cronus:: you tell him, kind of perturbed by the events of today. You knew the guy didn't have a lot of friends, but you didn't realise he had any real enemies. It had to be Mituna, didn't it?

"Well you can- you can… what?" he pauses, confused again. You wait patiently for him to think over his words "Don't be friendth with him, Kurloth. He'th mean. He can't come back in here."

You sigh through your nose. This is stupid- why are they even like this? ::I'm going to go say bye now. Is that okay?::

"Yeah, whatever. Tell him I thaid fuck off." Mituna runs off into his bedroom and returns with a can of deodorant, proceeding to spray it over the couch and the majority of your shared living space. Cronus doesn't smell that bad.

You silently grab Cronus' jacket and dart out the door, quickly descending the multiple flights of stairs in the hope of maybe catching him while leaving. You find yourself lucky, because he's sitting on a bench just outside your apartment building, cigarette in mouth and looking pissed off.  
He looks up at you and you wordlessly hand him his leather jacket "Thanks. Was kinda hoping you'd remember that." You sit next to him and write him out a short message of 'You going to explain why Mituna threw a juggling pin at your face?'

Cronus rubs the rapidly forming bruise on his jaw and frowns "'Cause he hates my guts, that's why. I don't even hate him that much- I mean, we used to be friends." He takes a long drag from his cigarette. This information surprises you "Until I took the blame for his usual stupid shit one time and it got me thrown in the slammer upstate for a good year or so."

You startle a little. Would that be where he got those weird scars on his forehead? ‘you’re telling me youve been to prison?’ you write. He just nods, taking a long drag of his cigarette.

You don't like this at all, but he continues anyway "Fuckin' Captor goes off on one, right? Huge episode where he went missing for twelve hours. I found him covered in gasoline in front of the creepy old farmhouse a little ways east, throwing matches into the hay. I’m like, hey Tuna, what the fuck? You know? And one of the matches manages to do its job and suddenly I’m dragging him out of a burning building.” You can’t believe what you’re hearing “And he starts crying and shit, saying he 'can't go to jail'. Idiot. So I take the blame, not like I ain't been in a prison cell before that anyway-" you blink at this, sceptical "Don't look at me like that. So they put out the fire and we’re brought in for questioning, theres a trial and all that shit, and suddenly I’m behind bars at eighteen with no chance at life, right? Like, I never graduated high school, theres no chance of me going to college, and everyone thinks I actually did it and I'm a huge mental case or some shit. Nobody talked to me for like, a year, and Captor never said anything to help me out. I took the fall and the bastard abandoned me just like everybody else."

He looks ready to hit something by the end of his little story. Personally, you can't believe something like that actually happened in this boring little beach town, but there was the whole twisted story "So, obviously, I'm gonna have a grudge against Captor, okay? Vwe got issues. Deal vwith it."

You pretend not to notice the verbal slip up with his W's there. You're a little torn about taking sides since you received this information. It's not like you could blame Mituna for anything, really. You’d seen him during episodes before and it was never pretty, but you’d never heard of him doing anything quite so dangerous. As for the ‘abandonment’ thing? He probably just forgot or was pressured into avoiding Cronus or something. It's always hard to tell with the Gemini since his mental capacity changes so often.

'He doesn't want you back in the house.' You admit, your handwriting neater and more hesitant than usual 'I don't know if he's cool with us being friends.'

Cronus spends a few seconds staring at the paper. You think he might have something to say, but instead of reasoning through anything he proceeds to throw the notebook into the road, yelling "Oh, vwhat, so you're just gonna fuck me ovwer too 'cause Captor might 'not be cool' vwith it?"

He's not even trying to hide is speech issues anymore, and you're lost here without your notebook. You're pretty sure he either wants to hit you, or to run away. You can't tell which ::No, I want to fix this::

The Aquarius laughs at you "I don't evwen havwe to listen to you. You knowv vwhy? Because I can't understand a fuckin’ thing your’e tryin’ to communicate, you creepy mute fuck."

Oh shit. That hit you harder than you'd like to admit. Fuck fixing this, and fuck Cronus. You don't care if he's tragic or not, that was straight up fucking rude. So in retaliation, you snatch the jacket back from him and storm back up to the apartment. You can hear him yelling various mute-themed insults after you, but he can't get into the building without a key so from the other side of the small glass door, you smile in the most condescending way you can and flip him off.

“Yeah, that’s it, mime it out for me buddy!” He yells through the glass. You scowl hard enough that it hurts.

::He comes anywhere near you, I'll choke him:: you sign at Mituna when you return. He laughs and offers you some of the pizza he'd been making while you were busy arguing with that asshole downstairs. You decline and shut yourself in your room, deciding to spend the rest of the evening playing your ICP records and debating whether you were too harsh on him, considering that he clearly has some people problems.  
Nah, Cronus was way out of line. You don't tolerate any insults that gear towards you or Mituna's disabilities. You also question why exactly you stole his jacket, but that's at the bottom of your priorities right now. More importantly, you're considering just how believable that horrible story was- and how you still feel way worse for Cronus than you really should. Fuck this.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god oh christ im going to die alone

Your name is Cronus Ampora and this whole 'job' thing isn't as horrible as you thought it would be.

So far your new start as a barista has consisted of four spilled coffees, two wrong orders and minimal tips, but hey, at least you're getting paid. Not sitting on your ass all day is kind of nice too, in a very classless demeaning sort of way. You need this. Sure, you may be on the verge of being a millionaires son but something in you really wants to see the world of work before you officially don’t have to. It’s shameful how long you’ve gone living on your dads dime.

Not anymore, though. You're keeping it fresh and going all out on the customer service vibe, serving up smiles with every order. God, you're just amazing at this, aren't you?

You hand that cute younger girl her frappa-whatever-the-fuck and she thanks you with a wink. Well, that's certainly different. Maybe you should get her number. For some reason the idea of doing so reminds you of Kurloz. You wince.

It's been a week since you and Kurloz stopped talking to each other, and you've already drastically turned your life around. You're pretty sure your now official status of 'completely friendless' has inspired you to at least try and make something of yourself, and this job is actually making you feel kind of good.

To be honest you can't believe you spent hours alone in your room practicing sign language for a guy who- hey, it's not like you even had a chance with him in the first place. As far as you know he's completely heterosexual and friendship was all that was on offer. But then again, fuck friendship. Mituna's interference hadn't fucked up your life that much this time, you suppose. You're still pissed off though- fucker stole your jacket. Are you even going to get that back?

You hate that you miss Kurloz. It was nice, for however brief a time, to have someone who actually wanted to be around you. Even if it was some circus freak from out of town. This is not the time to be thinking about that, though, because you're very busy making obscenely complicated coffee for people with too much money to waste. The door chimes, meaning yet another customer wanting you to make something stupid. Okay.

Oh shit, it's Meenah, and she's staring at you. Like usual she's wearing that bright pink getup, all baggy pants and chains and stuff. You're still kind of butthurt about her making fun of you... what, a month ago? Wow, you really know how to hold a grudge.

"Yo, how's my favourite tool doin'?" she leans on the counter, smirking at you with your apron and slightly messier than usual hair. You don't really care about your hair that much if you're only going to work.

"Pretty good. Workin'. The usual." you reply, aloof and not in the mood to be taking shit today "You gonna order or what?"

She snorts, grinning behind fuchsia painted lips "Wow, touchy are we? Nah, I'm just here to invite a loser to my party tomorrow."

"Wait, really?" you stop wiping the counter for a second, forgetting all about that coffee you spilled over twenty minutes ago. God you're so bad at this.

"Ain't a party without guests. You ain't got anything to do tomorrow night, right? Nah, didn't think so." she looks behind her shoulder to glance out into the busy street. You wonder whether this is some kind of weird joke at your expense "Anyway, I'd reely like you to be there. My place at eight?"

You're surprised by the fact that it's only been a month or so since the last party you'd been invited to. You don't get invited to much, and now you're suddenly going to Meenah's party. That's like, VIP or something. You don't think many people get invited to those things.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. You're holding up the line." you tell her. A brief frown crosses her face, but it's replaced almost instantly with a menacing grin.

"Stay cute, Ampora." she instructs you before waltzing out of the shop. You're a little in shock. Meenah was weird as hell. It kind of feels like this is some sort of trap, but you doubt that this ominous feeling is going to stop you from showing up at her house tomorrow.

It's another two hours of this work bullshit until you get your break. You were so enthusiastic about this job a little while ago. What changed? Oh yeah, that's right, you realised how shitty and awful customer service is. Wow, you really hate this place.

As soon as your manager lets you out for a break, you throw your apron behind the counter and dart out into the street for a cigarette. This addiction is getting ridiculous- four hours without one and you already feel like you're dying. It occurs to you that maybe you should quit smoking these misery sticks, but that's a little too much effort for you. You'd rather just waste more money on them and suffer in silence.

Speaking of silence, a hand darts out of nowhere and steals one of your cigarettes. You haven't even lit yours yet, just standing there like an imbecile and confused as to what kind of shit-licking asshat this stranger was who thought they could just take your-

Oh. Fuck. Kurloz stands beside you, a little too close for your liking right now. You instantly step away, frowning, and slap the cigarette out of his hand. The nerve of this guy.

"Why the fuck-" he presses a finger to his own lips, indicating that you shut up for once in your life. You're still mad, but he looks kind of desperate for you to be quiet and you're a little interested in whatever he has to say.

He scratches the back of his neck, looking nervous, and then proceeds to pick the cigarette back up from the dirty sidewalk, placing it gently back into your still open pack. Kind of disgusting, but you don't care all that much. The look on your face is probably making this more awkward than it has to be, because you know for a fact that you're giving him the nastiest glare possible. You suppose you can be threatening when you want to be.

"What do you want?" you ask him, keeping to the point. He pulls a new notebook out from his back pocket and rips off the top page, not looking you in the eye as he hands it to you.

Looks like he had this planned, because in purple ink he'd already written 'I'm sorry.' in neat, loopy writing that he probably spent a little while getting perfect.

"Why?" you ask. People never apologise to you, so right now you're more than a little confused. He blinks, waves his hands a little in frustration, and then shushes you again. Rude, but you're too confused to do much about it.

'I am an asshole.' the next note says. You can't help but smirk as you read this. The third note says 'You are also an asshole.'

Less cool, but not untrue. The fourth note is longer: 'However I literally do not care about any of that. We can fix this if you want want to. Mituna isn't a reason for us not to be friends, and I miss us hanging out. Maybe just not in my apartment next time, unless you want more juggling pins thrown at you.'

You're convinced. This guy is going to be the death of you. This is just so cute, it's like something out of a bad romcom. You're about to give in entirely and hug him or something but he hands you the last note 'Also I still have your jacket and if you want that back then you have to be nice to me.'

And then you can't stop laughing. Kurloz is the biggest nerd you have ever had the pleasure to waste time with. You tell him this and he just rolls his eyes. What a dork. He seems to think about something for a moment, and then awkwardly stretches his arms out for a hug.  
This is the perfect opportunity to attack him for his weird apology, and you go full on hug-mode, crushing yourself into his chest with malicious intent and hooking your chin over one shoulder. This is more physical contact in one go than you've received in possibly the last three years. He huffs out a startled breath before squeezing his arms around your back, trying just as hard to suffocate you as you are him. It turns into a sort of wrestling match between the two of you on the busy sidewalk, and you bump into a few strangers during your battle for dominance, but you're stronger and end up pushing him against the wall of the coffee shop.  
He blinks down at you from where you've got him trapped. There is a lot of physical contact going on here and you're pretty sure this just got a lot less heterosexual. Poor Kurloz, you're probably making him uncomfortable.

You back off a little and punch him in the arm. That's a totally hetero thing to do, right? Yeah, close enough "Okay, loser, you got me. We can still be pals. I'm on my break right now if you wanna go sit by the harbour or something?"  
He writes you a quick message of 'Your hair is messy.'

You stop for a second. That is absolutely not the correct response to your question "Kurloz, your hair is always messy. All the time. It doesn't even look like you wash it."

'I don't need to.' He informs you. That's disgusting. But then again you shower, like, once a week so you can't say anything about other people being dirty. Kurloz reaches over and ruffles your hair into even more of a mess than it already is.

"Oh, fuck, get off." You growl, batting his hands away. He just laughs silently and continues trying to mess it up as you fix it "You never answered my question. Do you wanna go to the harbour or not?"  
He nods "Good, cause I'm hungry. There's this one place, does cheap fries that are actually good, and I am all about that."

The two of you wander off down the street in search of cheap food, the last week of arguments and resentment mostly forgotten. You're kind of surprised how easily that was resolved, but who are you to question it?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I am so behind on this. I’m actually emigrating to the states right now so its all a little hectic but i havent forgotten this story promise
> 
> anyways enjoy the horrors within

Your name is Kurloz Makara, but you probably guessed that already. There's kind of a pattern to these things.

Why are you going to Meenah's party tonight? Well, that would be because Cronus practically begged you to. For some reason he's convinced that they're playing some kind of sick joke on him, which to be fair, isn’t all that unlikely considering his reputation and Meenah’s general attitude towards everything. You wonder if his paranoia about being ganged up on has anything to do with his time in prison. And if they are actually planning to attack him then he needs backup. This is what you've been reduced to: Backup.

This contrasts drastically with the position you were in only yesterday- that would be pressed up against a wall by this loser you admittedly have a huge crush on. It's not even just random uncomfortable thoughts anymore. You have a full-fledged schoolgirl crush on Cronus Ampora and you can't decide whether this is a bad thing or not. The worst part is, you think he's actually trying not to make your relationship go anywhere. Like, literally forcing this to stay heterosexual. Who would even want that? Ever?

You think it started about an hour after he left your apartment. Fucker put you in the worst mood possible, and for some reason that managed to pull at your heart strings and now you're even more trapped than before. What is this? You never let yourself get trapped like this. All situations must be of your making.

Yet here you are, trying to find clothes that will impress Cronus. In your opinion it's kind of sad just how hard you're trying to look good in front on him- it's not like he's unavailable or anything. He's actually probably the easiest motherfucker in a ten mile radius, but that doesn't mean you can't try a little, right? Right. Good. Okay.

Once again your skeleton suit is left neglected at the bottom of the clothing mountain you have created in search of a good outfit. You don't even have to leave the house for another three hours, but your nerves are getting the better of you. Stupid nerves. This is ridiculous.

You end up wearing those obscenely tight black jeans that seem to make people look at you for longer than is comfortable, and a skeleton print top. Skeleton stuff is the best. Finish this off with those nice purple boots you sometimes forget you own and yeah, you look good. And Cronus likes your eyeliner, right? Yeah, that's going on too. You look around for a jacket, and your eyes slowly settle on...

Could you? No, that's too much. That's out of the question. You're going to do it anyway.

You slip on Cronus' jacket, the rough, worn leather not really matching the rest of your clothes. It's a little too bulky on your skinny frame and the sleeves don't quite reach your hands, but it's just so obviously his and it smells like him and oh god why are you getting off on this.

Mituna's out tonight so for the next couple hours all you have to do is watch TV and probably smell the jacket some more. What a strange, sad life you lead.

Two loud honks sound from down in the street. A second later your phone vibrates.

Cronus: hey fucknut I'm outside

It takes no time at all for you to descend the stairs of the building, eager to see Cronus and for some reason you're excited about his car. You don't really like cars all that much, but he talks about it a whole lot so you assume it's something nice.

It's pretty motherfucking nice, honestly. It looks like one of those home-workshop cars you see in old greaser movies, shiny and white with obviously customised bright violet hubcaps. A bit try-hard and attention grabbing in such a small, level-headed town, but you think that you like it. Or maybe you just like Cronus. In the end, what's the difference?

You carefully shut the door on the passengers side as you slide into the seat, wary of doing any damage to such an obviously prised possession. The interior is all white leather. Nice "So, chief, what do you think of the-"

He stops mid-sentence, eyes raking over your form. The way he looks at you in this over the top car makes you feel kind of dirty. You take the opportunity to look at him as well; all slicked back hair and baggy jeans and Jesus Christ why are all of his shirts so tight.

"Are you wearing my jacket?" he asks, jaw not really recovering from where it was dropped when he first looked at you.

You play with the zipper for a while, not looking him in the eye when you nod. God this is embarrassing. He must think you're some kind of idiot. You knew you should have just gone with one of your own jackets- you swear you have, like, at least five. There's a definite blush on your face, and you momentarily thank your dark skin for hiding it.

He turns back to face the front and starts the engine, staring determinedly forwards as he pulls out into the street "It's hot." he states. Your head snaps round to question him, one eyebrow raised. He still doesn't look at you "It's, uh, yeah, that's kinda hot."

Well, if you weren't blushing before you definitely are now. In a quick retaliation you smack the back of his head. The car jolts slightly but he doesn't lay off his course, he just smacks you back, one hand flying out to the side and managing to hit you right in the forehead.

You rub at your face and he laughs. Then you laugh. And then hit him again. See? This is much less awkward than you had thought it would be. It was nice how easily the two of you could fall right back into this juvenile bullshit after all that business about Mituna.

Meenah's house was big. And that means, yeah, it was fucking huge. You didn't even think people lived in houses that big, like, it had always been some kind of weird conspiracy where houses like this are dotted around with nobody to live in them as a constant reminder to the working man that yeah, he could be doing better. One of your less sound theories, and easily disproven by thumping bassline eminating from the entire building, but you will stick to your guns damn it.

Cronus parks up half a block away, saying something about not wanting to use the oversized driveway because his car was too obviously his and if someone was out to get him tonight he didn’t want his baby to suffer too. It was a fair point.

"Ampora, glad you could make it." Meenah grins from the other side of the huge oak door. She turns to you "And I don't know you. What up, stranger?"

Ah, yes, this is awkward. You shrug and wave her off in the most casual manner possible. You are eternally thankful that Cronus speaks for you "This is Kurloz. Friend of mine."

She invites the two if you inside, happily ignoring your presence and lack of talking in favour for the more socially capable partygoers. Cronus turns to you, gripping you by the arms "Kurloz, these fuckers are gonna stab me. Why do I feel like I'm gonna get stabbed?”

You happily sign back ::Because you're an asshole and have no friends:: which he clearly doesn't understand, because he replies with a slightly confused "Okay, thanks."

Yeah, you really like Cronus. Maybe you should kiss him right now and get it over with. It's not like he's going to completely reject you.

But you don't do that. Instead, you follow him to one of the less populated areas of the party, closer to the drinks table where very few people are milling about. It's kind of early in the evening so nobody's drinking that much, but Cronus goes straight for the vodka.

"Kurloz, I'm stressed. This is a stressful situation. Meenah hates my guts." he tells you, having to get close to be heard above the thumping music. Poor guy looks genuinely worried. Maybe you shouldn't insult him in sign language so often. It can't be good karma.

You write him a short message of 'We can leave if you like.', to which he shakes his head, looking more stressed out than before if that was even possible.

"No, no, this is nice. It's a nice party." he looks around before giving you a sideways glance "At least I'm outside."

This kid is some kind of crazy masochist, you swear. Either way you hook an arm around his shoulders and gesture to the large selection of drinks on offer. He ends up making you a drink that tastes like cleaning chemicals, but you don't complain. Whatever. At least it's alcoholic.

As the night goes on the two of you are vastly ignored by the majority of the guests. Nobody really wants to hang around with you guys. Meenah comes over to say hi a couple of times, but overall it's kind of boring.

Until you hear it "Meenah, I don't know if I can do it. Horuss is right over there." Rufioh complains, closer to your side than Cronus'. You briefly remember the conversation you overheard at the pier and it fills you with a vague sense of dread.

"That's the point, ain't it? Just do it. He's only here because you asked, fucker's stinking up my party." she replies. You think you kind of hate Meenah. Cronus is way too distracted mixing more horrific drinks to listen to any of this, and you're thankful for that. He doesn't need any more blows to the ego.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay, I'm gonna do it." Is the last thing you hear from the conversation before Meenah is directly in front of you.

She slaps a hand to your arm, grip tighter than you were expecting "Hey, Kurloz, right? Come do shots with me."

And suddenly you're being dragged across the room towards a bottle of tequila with your name on it. Cronus only notices that you've left him once you're already gone, sending you a look full of slightly drunken betrayal. Oh god why is this happening.

Meenah pours you a shot but you shake your head "What, not gonna play with me? Loser."

You watch Rufioh approach Cronus with wary eyes and change your mind about the shots. You take the one offered and down it instantly, not noticing the taste as much as the burning sensation in your stomach. It's not even that much to do with the alcohol, either. Rufioh has Cronus pinned to the wall, hands on the others hips and is talking to him about something. The Taurus looks nervous as hell and keeps glancing over his shoulder, but Cronus is in too much shock that this is actually happening to really do much about it.

Please don't kiss him. Please just don't. Not before I do.

But your silent pleas do nothing to stop this tragedy. Rufioh swoops right in there, firmly planting his lips on Cronus', who doesn't actually respond. He's just kind of staring at this totally hot guy, who is obviously all over him, and doesn't even move. You and Cronus make eye contact for a split second, and you must be burning holes through the air with your rage, because he stands there stiff as a board, and then lightly pushes the other boy away from him.

This is, in your humble opinion, what Gamzee would call a motherfucking miracle. What you had expected was a zero percent chance of Rufioh's rejection and an uncomfortable makeout session right before your eyes, possibly with the result of your friends legs being broken by a jealous lover. That was the obvious outcome of the scenario. It looked like a failsafe plan. You hadn’t thought even for a second that Cronus would hold his own. You’re kinda proud.

Even less expected was the way he turned. He just keeps surprising you.

Man, he looked pissed- face screwed up in a rage you hadn’t even seen him direct at Mituna. You couldn't actually hear what he was saying over the loud music, but he gestured wildly with his hands, and as far as you could see, Rufioh was trying to calm him down again. Yeah, good luck there. The Taurus puts a hand on his shoulder, and Cronus smacks it right off, yelling something incomprehensible. This argument actually turns a few heads, including Meenah's, who had long forgotten that you two were supposed to be doing shots.

"What the fuck?" she wonders aloud, going over to break up the argument that she clearly didn't need at her party. You follow close behind, ready to either punch Rufioh in the throat or steal Cronus away to somewhere safe. Hopefully both.

"Self-entitled jackass. Get over your fuckin’ victim complex and just break up with your shitty boyfriend in a way that won't have Horuss cracking my skull." He snarls, getting more in Rufioh's face with every word. Wow, how often do you get to see Cronus this angry? Only that one other time, but back then it was being directed at you, and it was horrible. When it's at someone else, it's actually kind of hot.

Meenah pushes him back a little "Chill, Ampora."

"No, fuck you, Meenah. You’re a god damn bitch and I hope you die alone. There's no chill left. None at all." He says, pushing her right back. This draws a lot of murmuring from the crowd. You make the call and stand in-between them- you don’t need Cronus getting lynched for beating on a girl right now. Meenah makes a complaint from behind you and you ignore it, instead gesturing towards the door. He seems to agree with you that you guys should leave.

Before you can forcibly remove him, however, he places a hand on Rufioh’s shoulder and leans in close, his nasty grin all teeth and voice breathy enough to be disturbing “Come anywhere near me again, you anime looking fuck, and i’ll take your eyes out of your face.” 

Rufioh balks, taking a big step back and the rest of the partygoers practically jump out of the way as Cronus walks through them, striding gracelessly from the room, but not without turning back to flip them all off and declare "You assholes ain't worth it."

You don't give half a fuck about Meenah and Rufioh, especially considering the shit they just pulled, and quickly follow him out. You think he forgets that you were there, because he goes straight on the warpath to get to his car. You stop him, grabbing one arm. He turns to yell at you, but realises exactly who you are and falters.

"That really wasn't cool, was it?" his voice is small now, his face fallen and shoulders hunched, and it breaks your heart a little. It dawns on you how horribly wrong his perception of ‘cool’ is. 

'It was pretty cool.' You write for him. He just gives you a sceptical look, so you continue 'You're 100% right, though. They aren't worth it.'

He stares blankly at the paper, and then back up at you. And then at the paper again "Yeah, no, they really aren't." he smiles, a strange new energy about him "Fuck it, who cares. You wanna go get ice cream? I'm not even that drunk so I can drive us-"

He stops again and laughs "Wait, shit, it's like one in the fuckin' morning. Fuck." Oh my god you really want to kiss him right now. How cute can a person even be? This should be illegal.

“I’m done.” He declares “I’m fucking done trying to be nice with people. It always blows up in my face.” Cronus goes to unlock his car anyway, ready to go home and hopefully give you a ride away from this strange rich people neighbourhood. As he goes to put the key in the door he mumbles to himself a short "Yeah, they're not worth it."

He’s strong. He might just be the strongest person you know, and you decide now that he’s absolutely fucking beautiful. 

A sudden boldness overtakes you. Maybe you shouldn't have drunk tonight, what with your strange feelings lately. You flip him around so that his back is to the car, and he lets out this little startled squeak. Fuck, maybe he's drunker than he's letting on.

::Am I worth it?:: you sign, agitated. He blinks owlishly at you.

"Kurloz, I, uh, I kinda have no idea what that means." He admits, shrugging his shoulders. You pull out your notepad, determined to make something out of this rash decision.

'Am I worth it?' you etch in a thick, pointed scrawl.

He reads your note and his expression becomes tense. Cronus hands you back the notebook, which you slip into your back pocket. He hasn't said anything yet, but instead decides to grip his hands around the leather at the front of your jacket- which is actually his jacket- and you think you're having some kind of half-drunk anxious meltdown. Fuck, you fucked up. You fucked this up.

"I don't think I understand." He says very slowly, frowning down at his hands. Poor kid tries so hard to make sure you’re comfortable, maintaining this dumb hetero friendship.

You lean down and gently press your lips to his, barely touching, but now your intentions are clear. It's nice either way, because he's warm as hell and so soft. You would never have used the word 'soft' to describe Cronus. Annoying or huge screaming pissbaby, maybe, but not soft.

When you pull away he's blushing to new extremes and gripping the jacket even tighter "Wow, there's, uh, a lot of people kissing me tonight, isn't there?" he mutters, laughing to himself in a very airy, detached manner. You don't break eye contact for even a second.

He pulls you back down and crushes your mouths back together, and, oh wow, he's bad at kissing. Looks like that's something you get to teach him. He pulls away first this time, hands cupping either side of your face.

He grins up at you, drunk and stupid and nervous as all hell, and brushes his thumbs over your sharp cheekbones.

"Yeah. You're definitely vworth it."


End file.
